VICTORIA (CUP) – She gets good grades, loves her dog, plays guitar, and jogs for half an hour every morning. Ashley (not her real name) transferred to the University of Victoria this fall after spending three years at Camosun College in British Columbia studying liberal arts. She looks like an average student; a little tired around the eyes, wearing jeans and carrying a book bag and coffee mug.
What her fellow students wouldn’t guess about Ashley is that at the end of the school day, when most students go home to eat dinner and cram for exams, she trades in her binders and textbooks for stiletto high heels, fake eyelashes, and sexy lingerie. As a means to finance her journey through the hallowed halls of UVic’s buildings, Ashley works nights as a call girl for a local escort agency.
Now 28, she has been working as an escort since she was 20. Before that, she worked as a cashier in a retail store, but had a hard time making ends meet. She heard trading sexual favours for money could be very lucrative. She didn’t feel uncomfortable with the idea, so she decided to check it out.
Ashley looked up escort agencies in the phone book and set up interviews with each one to find out how it all worked. Then she chose the agency that best suited her needs.
On her first day, Ashley was extremely nervous.
“The first time [having sex with a client] was scary,” she says.
But her co-workers helped to put her at ease.
“The people there were really nice to me; after the first day it became pretty routine, like a normal job.”
Ashley says her clients are respectful and kind, and in eight years, she has never found herself in a position where she felt unsafe.
Although Ashley works indoors and not on the street, the dangers associated with working in the sex industry are very real.
According to research done by B.C.’s Simon Fraser University criminologist John Lowman, women working as prostitutes are at a much greater risk of violent crime than the mainstream public. Also, the Public Health Agency of Canada states that sex workers are especially vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections.
But therapists working closely with women in the sex industry say emotional impact and social stigma can also have a lasting effect on women even after they leave the industry.
“There are many things that can be dangerous for workers,” says Victoria-based therapist Leah MacInnes. “It can affect how you feel about yourself, but it’s different for different women. There’s a lot of judgment in society, and hiding what they do can cause emotional stress.”
A Matter of Choice
Despite Ashley’s initial fears, the money was great.
“I’d never made so much money in such a short period of time before, and I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go back again,” she says.
But not everyone agrees being an escort is an ideal way to earn a living. Camosun student Josh McKinnis feels it’s a degrading way to make money.
“I don’t think they should do it,” McKinnis says. “I know it’s hard out there to find jobs, for men and women, but it’s something that is not appropriate.”
Fellow student Fletcher Evans agrees.
“It should be illegal. It’s unsafe and demoralizing for a woman; she’s like an object. You pay to rent a car; you pay to have sex with a girl. You can try to justify the situation by paying to go to school, but there must be a better way to get money.”
Some women’s rights advocates, such as the Camosun College Women’s Centre, take a different stance on Ashley’s career choice, saying each person has a right to make a living how they choose, as long as they are not harming anyone.
“It’s not a route I would choose, but if you feel good in your body and you feel comfortable sharing it, then I don’t see any problem with that,” says Natalie Schlogl, a Women’s Centre support staffer. “Of course, being safe and using protection is important.”
The Exchange
As to what actually does go on between an escort and her client behind closed doors, there are different scenarios. The escort can either go to the client (out-call), or can be visited at their agency (in-call).
Some escorts will provide a GFE (girlfriend experience), which means different things for different people, but often includes kissing on the lips, cuddling, or “dining at the Y” (oral sex) – things usually done with a more emotionally intimate partner.
Some do duos with other escorts (a very popular choice). There are also CBJs (condom blowjobs), nude massages, fetish scenarios (use your imagination, but it’ll cost more), and Greek (anal sex).
And what about the Johns, or customers? Who are the people whose hard-earned dollars fuel the growing sex industry in North America?
Lauren Casey is a former sex worker who has been living in Victoria for five years and is the former executive director of the Prostitute Empowerment Education and Resource Society. Casey also put herself through school working as an escort, earning a bachelor of arts and later a master’s of arts.
In Casey’s experience, the men paying for the services of escorts or other sex workers are just normal guys, many of whom are married and have families.
“They’re not little trenchcoat guys running around . . . flashing people,” Casey says.
Casey explains that because sex work sees a lot of turnover, it’s hard to say exactly how many workers are in the Victoria area. She estimate there are at least five local escort agencies and somewhere around 1,500 sex workers working in agencies, as independents, or on the street.
“Society tends to cast the whole net on the workers and little attention is paid to the fact that [the sex industry] is not going to go away, because, well, there’s always the buyer,” Casey says.
Speaking of the buyers, privacy is always a concern for those working in the sex trade, but Ashley is not really worried about her two worlds colliding. She protects her secret well.
Occasionally, she crosses paths with one of her clients in a public place. Usually, it’s understood that both parties behave very discretely, but she admits there have been unfortunate occasions where a client has approached her in public.
Ashley says while she has never had a fellow student as a client, she has on more than one occasion provided sexual services for Camosun College professors. She says, although they weren’t her professors at the time, they were aware she was a Camosun student.
“I’ve had profs from Camosun come to the agency to see me; if it’s awkward, I always ask if they want to see someone else,” she says. “But usually they’re more than willing to hang out with me for that time.”
And Ashley’s situation is not uncommon. She estimates about one-quarter of the girls she has worked with over the past eight years have been post-secondary students.
“Contrary to the image that society portrays, most of the girls are pretty normal, come from middle-class families, and choose to be working in this industry,” says Ashley. “We are not the victims that society makes us out to be.”
